NETL partners with Solar Turbines to enable commercialization of fast gas analyzer

As part of a cooperative research and development agreement with Solar Turbines Inc., the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is pushing to commercialization a gas analyzer that allows real-time control off turbine machinery based on their fuel composition.

NETL developed the Raman Gas Analyzer, which Solar Turbines tested. It works through the use of Raman laser spectroscopy–a process by which lasers interact with molecules and relay information about the gas under examination. In this way, a readout of the gas composition can be continuously updated, giving operators more insight and thus more control of production.

“No commercial technology has the combination of speed, accuracy, and multi-gas capability as NETL’s Raman Gas Analyzer,” Ben Chorpening, a researcher with the NETL Innovative Energy & Water Processes team, said. “Our partnership with Solar Turbines is a crucial step toward its eventual implementation in power plants across the country, where it can benefit the American people by improving and enhancing our nation’s energy production.”

NETL wants to see the technology implemented in natural gas-fired power plants to provide greater flexibility and optimization in the market. So far, they have built two working field prototypes.